Programmers Must Take Vitamin D • Hacker News Board

Re: Programmers Must Take Vitamin D

#11

Post by GFKjunior » Sat, Sep 15, 2012, 2:30 AM UTC

blackhole wrote: post #6

Taking supplements without assessing what your current daily intake of Vitamin D is can be dangerous; it is surprisingly easy to go over the recommended dosage, and there is such a thing as overdosing on vitamins [1]. You don't just get Vitamin D from the sun - it is also present in eggs, some seafood, and certain fortified dairy products. Because of this, you may not need to take a daily supplement at all. Programme…

That link was terrible and had no useful information pertaining to vitamin over usage or its effects.

I did not know it was possible, but here is a much better link those interested.

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/effects-of-taking...

Re: Programmers Must Take Vitamin D

#12

Post by Lost_BiomedE » Sat, Sep 15, 2012, 2:30 AM UTC

blackhole wrote: post #6

Taking supplements without assessing what your current daily intake of Vitamin D is can be dangerous; it is surprisingly easy to go over the recommended dosage, and there is such a thing as overdosing on vitamins [1]. You don't just get Vitamin D from the sun - it is also present in eggs, some seafood, and certain fortified dairy products. Because of this, you may not need to take a daily supplement at all. Programme…

Vitamin D3 is very safe, one of the safer ones in fact. The target levels are still have a bit of controversy but safety is well documented. Taken blindly, without testing status, the conservative range is between 800iu to 2000iu daily. A weekly or monthly dose can be taken at once without issue.

Re: Programmers Must Take Vitamin D

#13

Post by patorjk » Sat, Sep 15, 2012, 2:30 AM UTC

This problem actually happened to me. A few years ago I started feeling incredibly lethargic. I would wake up with no energy. It was like sleep had done nothing for me. I didn't know what was wrong, but I felt horrible.

After around two weeks I went to the doctor. A blood test was done and it showed I had low vitamin D (26 ng/mL). After about a week of supplementation I felt normal again. It's easy to forget to go outside, and if you're a programmer and feel low energy, vitamin D is definitely something to look into.

Re: Programmers Must Take Vitamin D

#14

Post by danielharan » Sat, Sep 15, 2012, 2:31 AM UTC

blackhole wrote: post #6

Taking supplements without assessing what your current daily intake of Vitamin D is can be dangerous; it is surprisingly easy to go over the recommended dosage, and there is such a thing as overdosing on vitamins [1]. You don't just get Vitamin D from the sun - it is also present in eggs, some seafood, and certain fortified dairy products. Because of this, you may not need to take a daily supplement at all. Programme…

It's really, really hard to overdose on Vitamin D, and most researchers working on this have been taking much bigger doses than what's officially recommended. IIRC, some researchers were taking 10,000 IUs/day. Overdosing requires doses orders of magnitude bigger.

Those official levels were set to prevent people from getting rickets, NOT to prevent degenerative diseases or maintain optimum health.

In fact those official recommendations have been creeping upwards in a lot of places. Best would be to get a doctor to check your blood levels and supplement appropriately.

This will be a lot more accurate than assessing daily intake, since dose mainly correlates to time in the sun, which varies by location and time of day.

Re: Programmers Must Take Vitamin D

#15

Post by danielharan » Sat, Sep 15, 2012, 2:34 AM UTC

bmurphy1976 wrote: post #5

I have a better idea. Go outside. I have a garden. I have a deck. I have two kids who I take to the pool regularly. I have a lawn that needs maintenance. I like to go outside. Another thing. I work during the day. Problem solved.

That's only solved part of the year if you're too far North. Also, you may need to wear less clothing and stay out longer than you'd expect.

Re: Programmers Must Take Vitamin D

#16

Post by wamatt » Sat, Sep 15, 2012, 2:38 AM UTC

blackhole wrote: post #6

Taking supplements without assessing what your current daily intake of Vitamin D is can be dangerous; it is surprisingly easy to go over the recommended dosage, and there is such a thing as overdosing on vitamins [1]. You don't just get Vitamin D from the sun - it is also present in eggs, some seafood, and certain fortified dairy products. Because of this, you may not need to take a daily supplement at all. Programme…

Yeah it's definitely a good idea to inform yourself before popping a bunch of pills.

But, examining your diet is not going to help you make an informed decision in this particular instance. For example, you could have a gene that causes D malabsorption, or a specific type of gut bacteria that breaks down D3.

If you are serious about it, then a quick blood test is the best way to know. [1]

More importantly Vitamin D is tricky, because it has risks on BOTH side of the equation.

Deficiency can be very serious as well. Human biases tend towards non-action when confused or overwhelmed with information.

If anyone is interested in my data that has helped me, my blood tests are available on Google Docs[2] as well my 23andme partial genome[3]

[1] http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/vitamin-d/t...

[2] https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ap5VmOaeqt6JdEx...

[3] http://bit.ly/UURj6y

Re: Programmers Must Take Vitamin D

#17

Post by stusmall » Sat, Sep 15, 2012, 2:52 AM UTC

I always thought that mushrooms were a good source of vitamin D, ends up it a slightly different form and isn't a suitable source. Thanks for the heads up!

Re: Programmers Must Take Vitamin D

#18

Post by dhughes » Sat, Sep 15, 2012, 2:57 AM UTC

dspeyer wrote: post #8

blackhole wrote: post #6

Taking supplements without assessing what your current daily intake of Vitamin D is can be dangerous; it is surprisingly easy to go over the recommended dosage, and there is such a thing as overdosing on vitamins [1]. You don't just get Vitamin D from the sun - it is also present in eggs, some seafood, and certain fortified dairy products. Because of this, you may not need to take a daily supplement at all. Programme…

Calculating my vitamin D intake sounds difficult and unreliable. Is there any way to measure my vitamin D levels by examining my body?

Pretty much if you live in a northern part of the northern hemisphere (above 49 degrees latitude) you need a vitamin D supplement.

I recall reading about a researcher in Boston (I think) who said after about mid October you could be sprawled buck naked on a rooftop all day and not get enough vitamin D from (brief winter) sun exposure.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2008/05/16/f-health-vita...

Re: Programmers Must Take Vitamin D

#19

Post by lgleason » Sat, Sep 15, 2012, 3:01 AM UTC

That is one of the reasons why I set up my workstation on my deck when I am working from home and the weather is nice.

Re: Programmers Must Take Vitamin D

#20

Post by qxcv » Sat, Sep 15, 2012, 3:02 AM UTC

bmurphy1976 wrote: post #5

I have a better idea. Go outside. I have a garden. I have a deck. I have two kids who I take to the pool regularly. I have a lawn that needs maintenance. I like to go outside. Another thing. I work during the day. Problem solved.

But for the love of $DEITY, please wear adequate sun protection. At the very least that means a hat and sunscreen, but you probably want to be using long sleeved clothing and sunglasses if you're outside for an extended period of time.

Vitamin D deficiency is bad, but skin cancer is worse.